David Cameron: Trident 'the best insurance policy you can have'

Following a visit to one of the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarines in
Scotland, David Cameron reasserted his commitment to renewing Trident,
saying: "The world we live in is uncertain and dangerous".

4:42PM BST 04 Apr 2013

On a visit to western Scotland, where the submarines that carry the missiles are based, Mr Cameron insisted: "I strongly believe we should replace [Trident] on a like-for-like basis. Why? Well because the world we live in is very uncertain and very dangerous.

"There are nuclear states and one cannot be sure how they will develop. We cannot sure of nuclear proliferation and, to me, having that nuclear deterrent is, quite simply, the best insurance policy you can have that you will never be subject to nuclear blackmail."

His Coalition partners the Liberal Democrats are against a like-for-like Trident replacement.

Danny Alexander, the Chief secretary to the Treasury, in January dismissed Tory demands for a new continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent and warned that the Treasury does not have “a magic pot of money” to pay for a new generation of submarines.